Hill figure

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.(December 2014)

A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and rubble made from material brighter than the natural bedrock is placed into them. The new material is often chalk, a soft and white form of limestone, leading to the alternative name of chalk figure for this form of art.

The creation of hill figures has been practised since prehistory and can include human and animal forms (cutting horses is known, as well as more abstract symbols and, in the modern era, advertising brands.

The reasons for the creation for the figures are varied and obscure. The Uffington Horse probably held political significance, since the figure dominates the valley below. It probably dates to the British Iron Age since coins have been found exhibiting the symbol. The Cerne Abbas Giant might have been a work of political satire.[1]Wiltshire is a county with a large number of White Horses; 14 have been recorded.[2] The figures are usually created by the cutting away of the top layer of relatively poor soil on suitable hillsides. This exposes the white chalk beneath, which contrasts well with the short green hill grass, and the image is clearly visible for a considerable distance. Despite most of the figures being of great age, many are relatively new. Devizes in Wiltshire created a large white horse for the 2000 Millennium celebrations and in October 2009 celebrated this with an aerial photo of volunteers making the figure 10 for an aerial photo.[3]

Figures must be maintained to remain visible, and local people often work regularly to restore or maintain a local landmark, though two cuttings of military badges at Sutton Mandeville, Wiltshire, are becoming lost. A map of Australia at Compton Chamberlayne, Wiltshire, was lost in 2005.

Similar pictures exist elsewhere in the world, notably the far larger Nazca Lines in Peru, which are on flat land but visible from hills in the area. These were made in desert terrain, however, not on grassy hillsides and so have not become overgrown, and thus have survived much longer without maintenance.

In 1949, Morris Marples invented the words "leucippotomy" and "gigantotomy".[4][5] Morris wrote that he "half-humorously ventured to use leucippotomy for the cutting of white horses and gigantotomy for the cutting of giants on rare occasions".[6] Neither word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, and rarely in the popular press.[7]

Until recently, there were only three used ways to construct white hill figures.

The stripping method, where the soil is thin, the turf, or soil, is stripped away to expose the chalk underneath. To carve horses this way produces quick results but the horse would need very regular maintenance, as it would become easily overgrown. This was a practice for hill figures but not as much horses. The Laverstock Panda in Laverstock near Salisbury, Wiltshire was constructed this way in 1968 and is now lost. Traces of figures of this type are not usually found after the figure is overgrown.

The method known as covering is the most simple way to construct, done by placing rocks on top of the turf. This method is normally used when there is no underlying chalk, the chalk is deep or if the figure needs to be constructed quickly (perhaps due to tools not being available). The maintenance for these figures is very high. There are several examples done like this, such as the Woolbury White Horse in Hampshire. This method leaves no trace of the figures existence when overgrown, as is the case of the lost Fovant Badges.

The trenching method, which is by far the most common method of hill figure construction. The underlying chalk where some white horses are constructed is not near the surface so a trench is dug and chalk from another site is used to fill the trench. The Uffington White Horse, the most famous white horse worldwide, is the prime example of this method. This was the method originally to be used for the modern Devizes White Horse. This method is invasive in the hillside and allows traces of the figure to be seen even when the figure has been overgrown for many years, an example being the original Devizes White Horse, cut in 1845, lost sometime in the mid 20th century, but traces of it can still be seen.

The biggest problem for white horses and other hill figures is natural vegetation to cover the figures. In the case of chalk figures, natural vegetation encroaches from the edges and can grow on soil washed onto the figure by rain. This can cover a white horse quickly. Water erosion can also be a problem for very steep and gentle slopes, because the rain can wash the chalk off the horse or soil onto the horse. Larger horses are more susceptible to this. This can have two effects, if chalk is washed off the horse, the horse gradually creeps down the slope, or if soil is washed onto the horse, it collects onto the lower edges and the horse actually gradually climbs up the slope. A solution is to provide adequate drainage in order to prevent such damage, either using run off drains, which can be found on Uffington White Horse, or a french ditch.

The Cerne Abbas Giant, also referred to as the "Rude Man" or the "Rude Giant", is a hill figure of a giant naked man 180 ft (55 m) high, 167 ft (51 m) wide[11] figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 12 in (30 cm) wide,[11] and about the same depth, which has been cut through grass and earth into the underlying chalk. In his right hand the giant holds a knobbled club 120 ft (37 m) in length.[11]

Its history cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century, making an origin during the Celtic, Roman or even Early Medieval periods difficult to prove. Above and to the right of the Giant's head is an earthwork known as the "Trendle", or "Frying Pan". Medieval writings refer to this location as "Trendle Hill", but make no mention of the giant, leading to the conclusion that it was probably only carved about 400 years ago. In contrast, the Uffington White Horse — an unquestionably prehistoric hill figure on the Berkshire Downs — was noticed and recorded by medieval authors.[11][12]

In 2008, overgrowth forced a re-chalking of the giant,[13] with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand.[14]

The Long Man of Wilmington is a located on one of the steep slopes of Windover Hill, six miles (9.6 km) northwest of Eastbourne. The figure is 227 feet (69 m) tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below, and is shown holding two staves. The earliest record was made by the surveyor John Rowley in the year 1710. This drawing suggests that the original figure was a shadow or indentation in the grass, rather than the solid outline of a human figure. The staves were not depicted as a rake and scythe as was once thought, and the head was a helmet shape. Sir William Borrow's drawing of 1766 shows the figure holding a rake and a scythe, both shorter than the staves.[15]

Before 1874, the Long Man's outline was only visible in certain light conditions as a different shade in the hillside grass, or after a light fall of snow. In that year an antiquarian marked out the outline with yellow bricks, later cemented together. It has been claimed that the 'restoration' process distorted the position of the feet, an assertion backed up by several who had been familiar with the figure before 1874, and also by later resistivity surveys.[16] It has also been suggested that it removed the Long Man's genitalia, though there is no historical or archaeological evidence which supports that claim.[15][17] A wide range of dates of origin have been proposed for the Long Man, but more recent archaeological work done by the University of Reading suggests that the figure dates from the 16th or 17th century AD.[18]

Until the early 17th century large outline images of the two giants, perhaps Gog and Magog (or Goemagot and Corineus) had for a long time been cut into the turf of Plymouth Hoe exposing the white limestone beneath.[19] An early and explicit reference was made to them by Richard Carew in 1602.[20] At one time these figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned but no trace of them remains today.[19][21]

Firle Corn in Firle, Sussex is a nearly-lost hill figure whose existence can be seen by infrared photography. Now looking more like a small ear of corn or a strange weapon than a human figure, there is a legend suggesting that a giant called Gill was once cut on this same hill and that he was considered an adversary of the Long Man of Wilmington not far away.[23] According to one story, the giant on Firle Beacon threw his hammer at the Wilmington giant and killed him, and that the figure on the hillside marks the place where his body fell.[24]

There are 16 known white horse hill figures in the UK, or 17 including the painted one at Cleadon Hills.

The Luzley White Horse, cut in the 1980s, is not completely lost, as some of it can still be seen, although it is no longer maintained.

Eight of the current white horses, and at least five of the lost figures, are in Wiltshire. The white horse is now generally considered a symbol of Wiltshire. An 1872 sketch of the Cherhill White Horse was later featured in the unofficial flag of Wiltshire, the White Horse Flag. It was designed after its designer, Chrys Fear, decided the white horse symbol had a stronger connection to Wiltshire than the Great Bustard on the official flag. Additionally, for the third millennium, it was proposed that a white horse should feature on one of the surrounding hills in Devizes (It became the Devizes Millennium White Horse). Smaller white horses now feature in Wiltshire, such as a replica of the Devizes White Horse in a Devizes primary school and two proposed white horses to feature on a roundabout in Marlborough (both towns already have larger white horses.) Liddington Hill near Swindon is the latest location in Wiltshire to have a proposed white horse, in the early 2000s, although the idea was abandoned.

Since hill figures must be maintained by the removal of regrown turf, only those that motivate the local populace to look after them survive. Surviving ancient figures all have an associated fair or ceremony that involves maintaining them.[citation needed]

In England there are at least fifty landscape figures, the majority of which are in the south.[28] (The phrase "forensic photo", relating to a few lost figures, refers to photos taken with appropriate filters, in optimum lighting, often at times of severe drought or snow covering, to bring out features no longer normally visible.)